All posts tagged Ahead of the Curve

@HarvardBiz – About to be my new obsession

by jaywalk1 on May 20, 2009 in Professional Development, Resource, Resources, Social Media, Thoughts with 1 Comment

hbiz1

Ok so maybe this isn’t exactly a new osbession for me. I did write about  Ahead of the Curve and their brief fall from grace in December, but I have forgiven them and just in time too!

Poking around the source of all (Twitter), I came across a link which led me to something which will definitely be a major time drain in a good way, the Harvard Business Publishing Twitter account (@Harvardbiz).

If you share my love for reading about brands, business, corporate social responsibilty and anything else under that amazing umbrella, you’ve got to follow them.

Here are a few of their more recent pieces that I found interesting:

Stop Worrying about Your Weaknesses

How Much Do You Trust Colleagues During a Downturn?

For a Charity or the Money? You Can’t Work for Both (*Must read!)

New Year's Resolution: To be Selfish!

by jaywalk1 on December 31, 2008 in Just Fun, Professional Development, Thoughts with 1 Comment

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Warning: Selfish in 2009

I’m going to be selfish in 2009, really selfish. Not just for selfish sake. I’m going to be selfish in order to be of greater help to the people and causes that I truly care about. Instead of random personal development weekends, I’ll be focusing on a personal development year.

I am going to read those books on the shelf, stay up to finish more of those blog posts, volunteer virtually and in person, take a class for no reason other than the fact that I like the topic, develop some of my own case studies, put more thought into that five year plan, step it up several notches at work, go somewhere I’ve never been before and do something extraordinary.

In 2009, I am working to become a better citizen, son, employee, cousin, friend, person, human. I hope you’ll join me during the next 365 days…and blog about it… after all, a selfish guy still needs a community!!

What is Your "Reflected Best-Self"?

by jaywalk1 on September 19, 2008 in Gen Y, Just Fun, Professional Development, Resource, Resources with 3 Comments
RayDS - Flickr

RayDS - Flickr

Lately, I’ve been doing a LOT of reading and thinking about the future, and by default, there’s been an abundance of jazz and gospel pumping from my headphones as well.

The cause of all this extra big picture thought has been my decision to create a five year plan. I’m too big a believer in the unpredictability of life to think that everything will go as planned, but I still feel the need to get some things down on paper (or a least fleshed out in a word doc) and work towards them.

Somewhere nestled in my five year plan will be going back to school to get my MBA. Taking proactive steps toward that goal, I stopped by the bookstore to check out GMAT books and discovered something else, Ahead of the Curve  by Philip Delves Broughton.

In the book, Philip, former New York and Paris bureau chief for the Daily Telegraph of London, recounts his experiences from his two years at Harvard Business school. I’m only about 75 pages in, but so far so good. In the chapter titled “Who Am I?” Philip speaks about the personal development exercise called “My Reflected Best-Self.” He was asked to create his own best-self portrait by answering the following questions:

- How does your best-self profile correspond with the sorts of things you spend the bulk of your time doing?

- What situations or contexts encourage your best-self to emerge?

- What keeps you from operating at your best most of the time?

- How can you priortize your life so that you maximize the potential for your best-self every day?

- What can you do differently?

- What might you consider  not doing anymore?

- Are there certain contexts you can put yourself in to maximize your potential?

I know that looks like quite a bit to ponder. I’m gonna try to set aside some time to tackle this this weekend and I challenge you to do the same. What is your “reflected best-self”?

One more thing…if you know of any great models for five year plans or even blog posts that’ll help get things going, please send a few links my way.